Armies of Liberation

What a bunch of elitist imperialist lunatics these al-Qaeda are: they annointed themselves as gatekeeper for the entire nation and magically endowed themselves with the right to murder anyone they please. Somehow these fanatics think they know better than all the other 20 million Yemenis what is right.

Osama gets the final say on who lives and dies in Yemen? Ok so we can start the list of who’s safe.

Thankfully they haven’t learned yet to shoot a mortar. Maybe the regime got a bad shipment from Kim Jung Ear. Maybe not.

(AKI) - An al-Qaeda cell in Yemen has issued a threat against non-Muslim foreign tourists, particularly those from the West, who visit the Arabian Peninsula.

“We warn all the unbelievers who enter the Arabian Peninsula that [targeting] their money and their blood are religiously right for us,” said al-Qaeda of the Jihad in the South of the Arabian Peninsula in a statement that was published in its e-magazine entitled “Epic Echo”.

“We want to tell you that if you enter the Arabian Peninsula under any name or cover, whether as tourists, diplomats, university professors or journalists, know that we are justified in targeting you,” said the statement.

“We do not respect any of the agreements signed by the Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh and various governments.”

The terrorists also mentioned the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and accused Europeans of not having accepted his offer of peace offered to European governments in April 2004.

“No-one will be safe without an explicit permission from Sheikh Osama,” said the statement.

The group also said that it would also target Yemeni security forces.

In recent weeks, Yemen has been hit by a series of attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against government targets.

Related: US Embassy Attacker Sentence Reduced

2008-05-12 SAN’A, Yemen (AP) - An appeals court in Yemen has reduced the prison sentence for a man convicted of shooting at the U.S. Embassy there. The 2006 shooting caused slight damage to the building in the Yemeni capital of San’a, but no one was hurt. Saleh Alawi al-Ammari was initially sentenced to five years in prison. But a judge on Monday reduced the penalty to three years.

Prosecutors have said al-Ammari went on a shooting spree after listening to videotapes calling on Muslims to wage jihad, or holy war, against the United States because of the Iraq war and American support for Israel.

Elite cpature of donors funds is a very tragic and common circumstance, and the Dutch have supported Yemen for a long time in a benevolent manner.

http://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/view_nnews.asp?sub_no=402_2008_05_15_63417
Alsahwa.net-The Dutch Embassy in Yemen expressed sorrow over misusing its technical and financial support provided to Shabwa province in the frame of mutual cooperation.

“We were deeply shocked that the three cars supplied by embassy were delivered to members of administrative authority” The Dutch ambassador to Yemen Harry Buikema said in a letter directed to the Shabwa governor Mohammad al-Rwaishan.

Buikema’s letter which Alsahwa.net has a copy of it demanded the governor to offer a final report of the technical and financial support.

“I wish the embassy be able to visit the province through June-July to discuss future cooperation” Buikema said.

A majority of the ruling party in Shabwa had voted in April 2008 for distributing cars granted by the embassy to the heads of the local council amid fierceobjection of the opposition members.

26 Sept

Candidates of General People’s Congress for governors’ post won in most Yemeni provinces, while independent candidates won in the provinces of Al baydha, Al Jawf and Marib. The election id Adalea province postponed due to lack of quorum.

The Election supervising committee in Marib province has announced the independent candidate for the province governor post Naji al-Zayedi to win.

He came ahead of the ruling party nominee Hussein Hazeb with 141 of 206 eligible voters against 36 for Hazeb.

The origin number of the eligible voters in the province electoral body reaches 268.

On the other hand, Ahmed al-Maisari won in the Abyan governor elections with 125 voters against 94 for his rival Muhammad Saleh Hadran.

In Hodiedah Ahmed Salim al-Jabali overwhelmingly won the elections.

The Nation

SANA’A // Yemen held its first vote for provincial governors yesterday, with the ruling party winning all but three of the 20 districts, while an opposition boycott in a fourth led to the vote being cancelled.

In Mareb, al Baidha and al Jawf, the winning ruling party members ran as independents after they opposed the party’s choice of candidate, while in al Dhale’, where the election was boycotted by the opposition, a governor will be appointed by Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president.

The election followed a decision by Mr Saleh last month to allow 7,498 local council members to elect the mayor of the capital, Sana’a, and the governors of 20 provinces. But the opposition said that the election was a farce, as candidates are not chosen by the party but by the party’s leadership.

(Read on …)

Sana’a, May 17, 2008 (YemenOnline) - A military source said that 40 al-Houthi rebels and eight soldiers were killed in Harf Sufyan district in Amran governorate until Tuesday.

The sources added that security forces defeated all al-Houthi rebels out of Harf Sufyan area. The source accused al-Houthis of trying to attack government and services installations in the area.

Media reports indicted that al-Houthi fighters downed a helicopter in Harf Sufyan last week.

(Read on …)

Bingo! Good stuff.

Coddling Terrorists In Yemen
By Ali H. Soufan
Saturday, May 17, 2008; A17

Seven years after al-Qaeda terrorists Jamal al-Badawi and Fahd al-Quso confessed to me their crucial involvement in the bombing of the USS Cole, and three years after they were convicted in a Yemeni court — where a judge imposed a death sentence on Badawi — they, along with many other al-Qaeda terrorists, are free. On Oct. 12, 2000, when I flew to Yemen to lead the FBI’s Cole investigation, I had no idea how uncooperative the Yemeni government would initially be. Nor could I have imagined how disconnected from reality the U.S. ambassador to Yemen then, Barbara K. Bodine, would prove.

I have hesitated in the past to share my view of the conflict between Bodine and the FBI’s counterterrorism leader, John O’Neill. I feel compelled, however, to respond to Bodine’s recent comments, which slander the efforts of many dedicated counterterrorism agents and divert attention from the significant terrorist problem within Yemen, our “ally” in the “war on terror.”

A recent Post report on Yemen allowing al-Qaeda operatives to go free offered insight into the challenges the FBI faced. Bodine was quoted in the article not urging the Yemeni government to rearrest the terrorists but, instead, denigrating the agents who investigated the attack. She faulted the FBI as being slow to trust Yemeni authorities and said agents were “dealing with a bureaucracy and a culture they didn’t understand. . . . We had one group working on a New York minute, and another on a 4,000-year-old history.”

In fact, our team included several Arab American agents who understood the culture and the region. Even so, such comments were irrelevant. The FBI left Yemen with the terrorists in jail.

It is true that while tracking the terrorists we worked “on a New York minute.” We owed that much to the sailors murdered on the Cole and to all innocent people who remained targets as long as the terrorists were free.

It is also true that we did not trust some Yemeni officials. We had good reason not to:

When the FBI arrived in Yemen, some government officials tried to convince us that the explosion had been caused by a malfunction in the Cole’s operating systems. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh even asked the U.S. government for money to clean up port damage the United States “caused.”

After we took representatives from various security agencies aboard the Cole and proved to them that the explosion was caused by an external attack, some Yemeni officials claimed that those responsible had died in the attack and that there was no reason to keep investigating. Similar excuses and smoke screens were rampant.

We faced constant threats to our safety, not just from terrorists. Members of the Yemeni parliament, in fiery speeches broadcast on official television, called for “jihad” to be declared against us. The hotel where we stayed was shot at and received at least one bomb threat, prompting an evacuation.

Rather than supporting us, Bodine declared John O’Neill, a man greatly respected by his Yemeni counterparts, persona non grata.

Many American officials in Yemen, including members of Bodine’s team, shared our frustration. Even victims of the Cole were offended by her. I’ll never forget one sailor telling me that Bodine visited the ship soon after the attack and acted “as if we had just inconvenienced her country.”

We had other reasons to be suspicious. For example, the State Department issued a “Search for Justice” poster offering a reward for information related to the bombing. After the poster was translated into Arabic, it ended up warning anyone against helping us. Was it a mistake, or calculated interference?

Ultimately, many Yemeni officials cooperated with us. We developed partnerships based on mutual respect and understanding — thanks to the dedication of agents on the ground.

Using DNA, we eventually discovered the bombers’ identities, and, through other forms of forensics, we were able to identify more terrorists, track them down and prosecute them in Yemeni courts. Working together, we disrupted further terrorist plots and protected U.S. interests. We were successful, and the release of al-Qaeda operatives cannot be blamed on the FBI.

FBI Director Robert Mueller was in Yemen last month demanding that the terrorists be held accountable for their crimes. It is difficult, however, for one hand to clap alone. The U.S. government needs a coordinated strategy on Yemen.

If Yemen is truly an ally, it should act as an ally. Until it does, U.S. aid to Yemen should be reevaluated. It will be impossible to defeat al-Qaeda if our “allies” are freeing the convicted murderers of U.S. citizens and terrorist masterminds while receiving direct U.S. financial aid.

The families of the victims of the USS Cole, and all Americans who want to see terrorists face justice, should be assured that this is not over. Many determined agents will not rest until justice is served. Their efforts, thankfully, receive unconditional support from Mueller. In the FBI, we believe that fidelity to our fallen heroes’ bravery exemplifies true integrity and real patriotism.

The writer was an FBI supervisory special agent from 1997 to May 2005.

Ew-rah. That needed to be said.

I updated the blog, Well actually, Beth did. And I still need to adjust the feed to full. Hang tight.

One in seven

IRIN:

SANAA, 11 May 2008 (IRIN) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Yemen said on 10 May that about 100,000 people have been directly affected by clashes between government forces and Shia rebels in Saada province, northern Yemen.

(Read on …)

YP

Just weeks after the country was shocked to hear about Nujood, the 8-year-old bride, who demanded the court to divorce her from her husband, today comes a much shameful case, as Arwa, a 7-year-old girl got married to a 35-year-old man in Ibb governorate.

Such cases give the country shame that it cannot handle and gives a very bad image to the culture of Yemen, which many seem to be proud of.

Why would a girl in such a young age get married? Is it because Yemen has run out of women, or do people who marry such young girls do it for a passion.

Yes, I agree that it did happen in the past and over a thousand years ago, but that is not an excuse. You cannot compare women today to women in the past. I could not believe what I was being informed when I heard of Arwa’s case, and what is surprising to me is sources mentioned that the girl did not have a problem with the marriage. Of course she would not have a problem, because she does not know what she is getting herself in. All she sees is that she is given gold, gifts, and jewelry, but does not know what awaits her.

For the sake of our culture, growth of our country , and most importantly the future of our young girls, lets stand together in ending such marriages that will eventually destroy the future of young girls year before it even begins.

Naval jihad, to go along with the civil jihad, the e-had, legal challenges, beheadings and suicide bombers, yada yada. Hat tip Eaglespeak, perhaps the most informed maritime themed blogs around.

Memri:

Al-Qaeda Affiliated E-Journal: “The Sea is The Next Strategic Step Towards Controlling The World And Restoring The Islamic Caliphate”

On April 26, 2008, the Islamist website Al-Ikhlas posted an article from Jihad Press, an e-journal reportedly linked to Al-Qaeda, which urges the mujahideen to establish naval terror cells. The article argues that gaining control over the seas and sea passages – especially around the Arabian Peninsula – is a vital step towards renewing the global Islamic caliphate.

It points out that such operations are feasible, because Yemeni groups have already carried out successful attacks against oil tankers, tourist vessels, and commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden; and other jihad fighters have carried out “two successful attacks on Zionist-Crusader targets in the [territorial] waters of Yemen: …the attack on the American destroyer [USS] Cole in October 2000, and the [attack on the] French oil tanker Limburg in 2002.”

The article adds: “As we draw near to the [crucial] hour when the leadership of the Zionist-Crusader campaign will be dragged to the [negotiation] table to accept the [mujahideen's] terms… it is necessary to [extend] the battle to the seas. The mujahideen have successfully established units of martyrdom-seekers on land; the sea is the next strategic step towards controlling the world and restoring the Islamic caliphate.”

Finally, the article stresses that the seas off the coast of Yemen, namely the Gulf of Aden, the Bab Al-Mandeb strait and the Red Sea are of supreme strategic importance in the campaign to expel the enemy from key locations. If the enemy loses these key areas, it explains, “he will not be able to defend himself on land and [to protect] his naval bases from the mujahideens’ attack.”

Syrian tried on charge of smuggling narcotics into Yemen
Saturday, 10-May-2008

al-Motamar
Almotamar.net - Specialised Yemeni First Instance Criminal Court on Saturday decided to postpone till next Saturday trial of a Syrian national accused of bringing into Yemen more than 450 thousand narcotic tablets Keptagon. The court decision was for allowing the defendant’s lawyer time to study the file of the case.

At the beginning of the court sitting statement of indictment was read out and it included that the defendant Faez Mustafa Dureid, 31, a Syrian nationality working as a tradesman, accused of bringing and possessing more than 450 thousand tablets of narcotic drug Keptagon captured at Sana’a Airport and hidden in sacks of sweets.

During the session held under chairmanship of Judge Muhsin Alwan the prosecution presented evidence of the case and confessions of the defendant in the reports. The charge mentioned the defendant brought sweets from Syria sent for him by a person called Mohammed Ali al-Khalidi living in an area of Madhaya situated between Syria and Lebanon. On his part the defendant is supposed to distribute the drugs to narcotics agents who are Abu Ali Shas, Yemeni and Abu Saleh, a Saudi.

Investigations revealed that the quantity of narcotics brought into Yemen since the beginning of January 2006 amounted to 26000 tablets. The defendant receives the amounts of drugs sent from Syria in the form of desserts and drug tablets are hidden inside.

In his response to the charge the defendant denied the accusation and the defence lawyer asked for photocopying the case file to be able to prepare his defence in the next sitting.

yeah yeah, its safe in Yemen

Khaleej Times

Local News: Why Al Qaeda in Yemen is wooing the Saudis
Saturday 10 May 2008 / Mareb Press

“Come to Yemen… “ This is an appeal by Nayef bin Mohamed Al-Khatany (Abu Humam), a Saudi member of Al Qaeda who is wanted by Saudi security forces and is believed to be hiding in Yemen. Al-Khatany was recently accused by the Yemen authorities of being the main financier of the two major attacks on Yemen’s oil installations in Marib and Hadramaut carried out by Al Qaeda in Yemen in September 2006. The ‘call’ appeared in the March edition of Sada al-Malahim, the organisation’s magazine that surfaced for the first time on Jihad websites early this year.

The magazine published a two-part interview with Al-Khatany. Asked why he, as a Saudi, decided to come to Yemen instead of fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, Al-Khatany said that Saudi Arabia remains the main battlefield for two reasons: its symbolic value as the home of Islam and its strategic value as the major oil producer and supplier.

The Khatany statement admits that the Al Qaeda branch in Saudi Arabia has lost its battle in the Kingdom as most of its members have been either killed or are in prison. He calls upon the remaining members of the Saudi branch to migrate to Yemen without delay “in order to escape sure arrest by Saudi authorities.”

(Read on …)

Such a sad situation. YT:

SA’ADA, May 14 — Bloody clashes between army personnel and Houthi supporters in Harf Sifyan district of Amran governorate killed approximately 40 Houthis and eight soldiers from Saturday until Tuesday evening, a military source said Wednesday.

However, Houthi representative Sheikh Saleh Habra told the Yemeni Times by phone Wednesday morning that the number of Houthis killed in the current clashes doesn’t exceed two, denying media reports claiming that 40 Houthis were killed.

Habra claimed that the 40 victims are civilians not connected with Houthis, who were killed by air strikes, mortars and Katyusha rocket attacks targeting their villages in the Harf Sifyan district, located in the vicinity of Sana’a-Sa’ada Highway.

(Read on …)

TML

Dell L. Dailey, coordinator of the Office for Counterterrorism in the State Department, said on the release of the report last week, that Yemen continued to implement a “surrender” program with terrorists.

Dailey added that the Yemeni courts had released, pending their appeals, several subjects wanted by the United States for acts of terrorism.

“Most notably on October 15, the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing and February 2006 prison escapee, Jamal Al-Badawi, surrendered to Yemeni authorities. He was released to house arrest on October 17, 2007 under the terms of this surrender program. Following substantial U.S. pressure, he was back in jail by October 29,” says the report.

The report also says the government’s capacity for stemming terrorism financing remains limited.

So far, there has been no official reaction to the report from the Yemeni government.

‘Abd Al-Bari Tahir, a political analyst, said that while Yemen suffered from terrorism like any other country, details in the report indicated there were deficiencies in Yemen’s security procedures and in its fight against terrorism.

“Terrorism needs a whole package of solutions, including cultural, educational, and moderate mosque sermons,” Tahir told The Media Line.

“The government fights terrorism either by confrontation or by conspiring with terrorists to achieve political gains, or using them against other parties. This is not enough in a poor country with a deteriorating economy and high rate of unemployment,” he said.

Al-Qa’ida Changing Tactics

A recent statement by Al-Qa’ida instructs its members to control the marine passages, mainly these surrounding the Arabian Peninsula, and particularly those in Yemen. The statement, entitled, “Marine Terrorism: A Strategic Necessity,” appeared on The Ekhlas Islamic Network,a website promoting Al-Qa’ida views and news.

“It has become very crucial to develop the battlefield to reach the sea,” the statement urges the Jihadists. “The sea remains the strategic step forward to dominate the world and reinstate the Islamic Caliphate.”

Generational Conflict

The former chief of the personal guards of the Al-Qa’ida leader said there was a huge conflict between the younger and older generations of the network.

Na’sir Al-Bahri, a taxi driver in ‘Sana, who is the subject of a security-monitoring program, said: “The new generation is very enthusiastic about Jihad. They want to just to fight, and they accuse the older generation of falling apart and getting weaker to continue the Jihad mission.”

“The context of the recent attacks discloses the background of the attackers,” Nabil Al-Sufi, a political and security writer told The Media Line. “It is the A-Zarqawi generation of Al-Qa’ida.

“This is clear from the immature operations, weaker attacks and easy and public targets. Most important is that these attacks have a security nature with no political agenda, which is the main objective of the older generation of Al-Qa’ida,” he said.

We believe that democracy and freedom have an expensive price…

Thank you very much for this campaign, which comes in the context of the overall values that we believe, and they punish us when we believe those values and adopt them. I do not want to talk about myself, but rather the environment that we live in and suffering we endure from the inconsistency between what the authorities announce about democracy and freedoms, and what happens when we believe in those same things, democracy and freedoms.

They want us to practice our rights as they understand them, but we do it ideally. The regime said that democracy is the way of ruling, but when we try to practice our rights within this concept, criticizing the way that the regime governs and how they act, then they deal with us in a way that has no relation to democracy. They deal with us as outlaws. They use all of the state’s resources to attack anyone who has any opinions not corresponding with their opinions, and to attack those who even discuss their way of ruling.

What I am suffering and facing is part of the price I and many others pay for the democracy and freedom we hope to achieve in the future. At least we are preparing for a healthy environment that we want the next generation to live in. We believe that democracy and freedom have an expensive price, and this is a part of that price.

However that doesn’t mean we will keep silent and bend, as it is the price. We will refuse injustice peacefully. Solidarity is a way to enhance new civil values which support the democracy we will make with our sacrifice and with the support of others. We pay the price of the freedom for ourselves and for the generations after us. Again, thank you very much for your help and support.

Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani
10/5/08
Sana’a, Yemen

The list of supporting bloggers is by Nicki.

Link to the One Click Letter Campaign,

Reuters

SANAA (Reuters) - Four Shi’ite rebels were sentenced to death on Monday after a Yemeni court convicted them of killing two soldiers, a court source said.

Three of the rebels were sentenced in their absence, the source told Reuters.

The rebels killed the soldiers when they ambushed an army patrol in 2007.

Fighting in the northern province of Saada between rebels led by Abdul Malik al-Houthi and the army has flared intermittently since 2004. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes.

Yemeni officials say the rebels, who belong to the Zaydi sect of Shi’ite Islam, want to return to a form of clerical rule prevalent until the 1960s.

The rebels, who want Zaydi schools and oppose the government’s alliance with the United States, say they are defending their villages against what they call government aggression.

Qatari mediators returned to Yemen earlier this month in an attempt to salvage a truce brought to the verge of collapse by a mosque bombing that killed 15 people. Houthi denies government accusations that his followers were behind the attack.

**** Sticky, Scroll Down for Newer Posts Please ****

super short version: Sign here. Its a letter campaign to the Yemeni government, US and EU for Yemeni journalist al-Khaiwani who may be sentenced to death in two weeks for insulting the president. We can’t have that. No. So sign a letter here.

Update: Side bar widget available ( thanks Vicky) Write me for the code: jane.novak@gmail.com

Update 2: Nicki is doing the links. Yay!

Details and supporting links:
(Read on …)

26 September Net

Sana’a - Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Ottri arrived in Sana’a today heading his country delegation to Yemeni-Syrian Higher Committee works which is to kick off tomorrow.

The Syrian Premier was welcomed by prime minister Muhamed Mujawar, Fish wealth minister, Syrian ambassador to Sana’a and number of Shura and Parliamnt council’s members.

Yemen and Syria Cooperation

Almotamar.net - Yemen and Syria affirmed Saturday their support for the efforts exerted for the establishment of security and peace in the Middle East and the necessity of pursuing dialogue as a means of understanding and solving regional disputes and differences and for the establishment of the just and comprehensive peace based on the principle of land for peace and resolutions of the international legitimacy.

In meetings of the Yemeni-Syrian Higher Joint Committee held in Sana’a Saturday co-chaired by Yemen’s Prime Minister Dr Ali Mohammed Mujawar and his Syrian counterpart Mohammed Naji Atra, the two sides also put emphasis on Iraq’s unity and preservation of its Arab identity and the rejection of any act aimed to impinge its unity and integrity of its territories.

(Read on …)

Yemen Post:

President Saleh has handed the responsibility of solving the Saa’da crisis to Sheikh Hussein Al-Ahmar, Head of the National Solidarity Council. Saleh has asked Ahmar to finalize the differences between both sides and ensure that peace fills the region of Sa’ada. This comes after the previous two committees responsible for the peace negotiations between the government and Houthi loyalists have failed over the past year, as casualties continue to rise weekly.

Houthi field officer Abdul Malik Al-Houthi welcomed the move by President Saleh and hoped that the outcomes are fruitful now that Ahmar is head of the committee.

Most members of the new committee assigned by Saleh are members of the National Solidarity Council. This is considered the third mission President Saleh has asked Sheikh Ahmar to intervene and help solve over the last two months including the Ja’ashin and South issues that Ahmar has solved.

Turning back to Sa’ada, escalation from all angles took place as fifty people were killed and nearly one hundred and twenty injured as locals in Sa’ada witnessed the start of a sixth war in the war torn governorate.

A local source told the Yemen Post that violent clashes are ongoing in different areas of Sa’ada province where casualties for Sunday exceeds 15 deaths and over 45 injured.

The source added that Houthis have become stronger especially when their fellow rebels were released from government prisons. Meanwhile, Houthi followers are surrounding a government complex in Munabeh district.

Further, government forces are also surrounding a large group of Houthi loyalist in Saa’da according to sources.

On Saturday, three Yemeni security soldiers were killed and another two injured in an attack that targeted a control center located in the northwest part of the city. In separate clashes, eight Houthi loyalists were killed in continuous clashes in the city as the death toll increases everyday from both sides.

Also, 15 people were killed and over 60 others injured, mostly soldiers when a powerful explosion rocked Suliman mosque in Sa’ada.

The explosion resulted from explosives packed into a motorbike and it was detonated when worshippers started to leave the mosque following performing Friday prayer.

The war has also caused unrest in people lives as more than 50 thousand people are homeless according to local sources. Also epidemic and infectious diseases are spread and many schools are closed. The Human Rights Report for 2007 issued by

I recorded 22 killed since August but the JMP is saying 25.

May 8, 2008

Alsahwa.net – Leadership of the Joint Meeting Parties has expressed discontent over the Yemeni authorities’ continuation in detaining JMP’s members and activists.

In a rally which was held on Wednesday and Thursday, JMP leaders said that the authorities suppressed their activities in various provinces, leaving 25 killed, 47 wounded and 487 arrested, victims of peaceful struggle, in 2007 alone.

At least 487 people were arrested, majority of them are from Lahj and al-Dhala’a governorates, according to the protestors.

Protests have spread across the country organized by JMP and former southern officers, but also triggered by the soaring cost of foodstuff.

Baoum is very sick, his family said in a release.

May 3, 2008

Alsahwa.net -Yemeni NGOs denounced Saturday political activists arrests in Aden, Dhala’a, Abayan, lahj, Hadhramout , Taiz and the secretariat capital .

In a sit-in , they expressed their refusal to attempts of militarizing civil life, imposing state of undeclared emergency and passing laws which aims to marginalize democracy.

In a statement, they declared their solidarity with political prisoners who were detained in a way which is inconsistent with all international conventions, demanding to immediately free top leaders of the Yemeni Social Parties Ali Monasar, Hassan Ba Oam , Yahya Ghalib as well as the comedian Fahd al-Qarni.

Yemen Post

Commander of Yemeni Coast Guard Forces Administration Ali Ahmed Ras’ee is a graduate of the Police Academy, and holds a degree in law, and a high diploma in economy.

In his interview with the Yemen Post, Ras’ee points out that the support of coalition forces to the coastguard harmed the country more than it benefited. (He doesn’t get the funding he needs.) Below are the details:

Yemen Post: What are the tasks of the coastguard forces?

Ali Ras’ee: The tasks of coastguard forces are stipulated in the establishment decree, and these tasks are varied. The coastguard forces have security and not military functions, including keeping order in Yemeni ports and launching patrols in Yemeni coasts and regional waters. Other tasks are limiting illegal immigration, protecting national waters against indiscriminate fishing, protecting environment against pollution, fighting piracy, rescue and search activities.

(Read on …)

M&C:

Sana’a, Yemen - Four soldiers were wounded in a clash with armed tribesmen in the north-western Yemeni province of Amran on Thursday, local sources said.

The sources said the shootout broke out after security forces tried to capture gunmen besieging a local government building in the Harf Sufian district of Amran.

Harf Sufian, about 150 kilometres north-west of the capital Sana’a, is on the main road linking Sana’a with the restive Saada province where skirmishes between the army and Shiite rebels have been raging on and off since 2004.

It was not immediately clear whether the gunmen were members of the Shiite rebel group.

Armed clashes between tribesmen and government forces are not unusual in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country where tribes are heavily armed.

Houthis? In Amran?

SANAA (AFP) — Four Yemeni soldiers were killed and two others were wounded on Thursday when they were ambushed by suspected Shiite rebel gunmen in the northwestern region of Amran, a local official said.

The attack targeted the convoy of army colonel Hamid al-Qoud as it passed through Harf Sufian market in Amran, 55 kilometres (34 miles) northwest of the capital Sanaa, the official said, requesting anonymity.

He said that the gunmen, thought to be Huthi rebels, fled the scene in a car after the attack.

Amran is on the road linking Sanaa with the rebel stronghold in Saada. The official said that police have set up roadblocks on the route in the hunt for the attackers.

More than 50 people have been killed in renewed violence between security forces and rebels over the past week, including 18 who died in a blast outside a mosque after Friday prayers six days ago.

RFERL

Meanwhile, a Yemeni state security court of appeals this week reduced a jail term for a national convicted of trying to go to Iraq for jihad. Bashir Muhammad Nu’man was sentenced last week to five years in prison for using a forged passport to travel to Syria with the intention of joining Al-Qaeda. The appeals court reduced the sentence to two years in prison for Nu’man, who was said to have been arrested in Syria and extradited to Yemen in February 2007, reportedly without offering any explanation….

Some neighboring states have taken the initiative to secure their borders with Iraq. Indeed, it does not appear that Arab foreign fighters have had any success in crossing the Kuwaiti, Saudi, or Jordanian borders into Iraq.

Syria has long been considered the main access point for foreign fighters, and despite some claims that the Syrian authorities are taking steps to control that flow, it is clearly not doing enough. Likewise, Iran has been reported to be another entry point for foreign fighters, particularly for Arabs entering Iraq from Afghanistan. Until Iraq can improve security along its porous borders with Iran and Syria, the problem will remain a major impediment to Iraqi security for years to come.

The Economist has an excellent article:

A POOR, mountainous country that clings to the south-west tip of the Arabian peninsula, Yemen seems in danger of falling into Somalia’s lap. Not physically, by toppling across the Gulf of Aden that separates the countries, though some may imagine that the influx of 100,000-plus destitute Somali refugees may shift its centre of gravity. The worry is that Yemen may tilt towards becoming a failed state.

In the past few years, it has dropped to 153rd among the 177 countries listed in the UN’s human-development index, a mix of such things as life expectancy, education and average income. More than a fifth of its 22m people are malnourished. Yemen imports 75% of its food, but even so it is using up scarce water supplies so fast that the aquifers most people rely on may dry up within a decade. Increasingly, with an estimated 17m guns flooding the country, tribes are clashing over access to wells.

Yet other security problems are worse. Since 2004, a miniature war has sputtered in the far north, pitting tribesmen from the Zaidi Shia minority against the central government in Sana’a, which has used tanks and aircraft, as well as, say critics, Sunni jihadist volunteers, to subdue the rebels. Though outsiders are generally barred from the region, casualties have been estimated in the thousands, with tens of thousands of civilians forced to flee their homes. More than 50 people have been killed in the past week alone, at least 18 of them when a bomb went off by a mosque in the provincial capital, Saada.

Unrest is rising in the far south, too, where resentment simmers over alleged discrimination since formerly separate South Yemen (once the British colony of Aden plus an outlying British protectorate of emirates) united with the more populous north in 1990. Big riots hit the city of Aden last month. And there have been a spate of small-scale attacks elsewhere, including mortar fire on the American embassy in Sana’a in March and on Italy’s in April. Who was responsible is unclear. Islamist extremists related to al-Qaeda, which suffered setbacks when the government cracked down on it between 2001 and 2003, have regrouped and been reinforced by Yemeni jihadists returning from Iraq.

Yemeni opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled since 1978, suspect something murkier. Though co-operating at some levels with the West against jihadist terrorism, his regime, perhaps because of its many security headaches, has lately treated Sunni Islamist radicals more softly. Terrorist suspects have recently received light sentences or been allowed to “escape” from prison. Last month Mr Saleh met Robert Mueller, head of America’s FBI, and is said to have rebuffed an appeal to hand over al-Qaeda members accused of involvement in an attack in 2000 on an American warship, the USS Cole, that killed 17 American sailors.

May 5, 2008

Alsahwa.net- Sources of the ruling party, GPC, have affirmed that severe disagreements intensified in the wake of declaring the ruling party’s candidates for governor elections which to be held on May 17.

The sources said that Robaizi tribes close down GPC headquarters in Shabwa governorates in protest at excluding three of their elected local councils from electing governors.

189 nomination requests for governor elections, among them 6 woman
Thursday, 08-May-2008

Almotamar.net - While the deadline for receiving application to nominations for governor elections in Yemen is the evening of Thursday, the number of applicants has until Wednesday evening reached 189 applications. Meanwhile, teams affiliate of civil society organisations have begun the process of observation of procedures progress after the supervising committees at the Ministry of Local Administration has given more than 42 observers from the organisations special cards for facilitating their work and that is in enhancement of the pursuit of transparency in the first elections of competitive elections of governors of provinces.

Committees supervising elections all over he governorates in Yemen have until Wednesday evening received 189 nomination applications for the posts of the capital mayor and governors of provinces, among them 6 women.

Eight Withdraw in Favor of GPC Candidate, in Dhalie no less

Almotamar.net - Eight candidates applied to nomination for elections of governors in al-Dhalie governorate have Thursday withdrawn their nomination in favour of the candidate of the General People’s Congress (GPC) Ali Qassem Talib. Chairman of the supervising committee told almotamar.net that a meeting convened the applicants to nomination and there they announced their withdrawal from nomination by their own will and out of conviction in favour of the GPC candidate as being among the efficient leading personalities that has been serving the governorate.

They considered the choice of the GPC of the candidate Talib as cutting the road to the overbidding as he is a personality entertaining unanimity of the population of the governorate.

Jaber Elbaneh’s buddies: NPR.org, May 6, 2008

Faysal Galab, a member of the so-called Lackwanna Six sleeper cell, was released from prison Tuesday after serving five years of a seven-year sentence.

He was one of six young men from the Yemeni-American community of Lackawanna, on the shores of Lake Erie just outside of Buffalo, N.Y., who traveled to Afghanistan in 2001 to attend an al-Qaida training camp called al-Farooq.

They shot weapons, learned to make bombs and met with Osama bin Laden. After weeks at the camp, nearly all of them returned home to resume ordinary, middle-class lives, driving taxis, working at delis and pumping gas.

The Lackawanna Six are seen by American intelligence officials as the first known homegrown terrorist sleeper cell in America. Galab is the first of the men to be released from prison. He was transferred from the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex in Indiana to a Detroit halfway house on April 29.

(Read on …)

Hadhramout compels Arab CC to get rid of its oil residues

[06 May 2008]

MUKALLA, May 06 (Saba)- Arab Contractor Co. (CC) working in oil block No. (49) in al-Dhalieah distract in Hadhramout was compelled to get of the oil residues that resulted from its work there.

This commitment came after the governor asked the company to put a mechanism to get rid of the oil residues under the supervision of oil environment experts.

During a meeting gathered deputy of Hadhrmaout Omair Mubarak and representatives of Arab CC and general director of Oil Office Salem bin Qadim, they affirmed the importance of the continuation of the company’s work in the distract.

UN official reveals Yemen’s urgent need of 5 thousand midwives
Tuesday, 06-May-2008
Almotamar.net - Public Health and Population Undersecretary Jamila al-Raee stressed Tuesday the necessity of paying attention to midwives working in the rural villages due to their important role in reducing fatality of mothers and children. She affirmed readiness of the ministry to approve the employment description of the midwives in addition to beginning soon a national project for training and qualification of midwives.

Al-Raee remarks came in her address to the ceremony given Tuesday by the National Society for Midwives in Yemen.

On his part the representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Yemen Hans Obdein mentioned in his address that Yemen urgently needs 5 thousand midwives of the total needed number of 20 thousand midwives to face expected averages of mothers fatalities. He said that the latest statistics point out that there is one midwife for every 12 thousand women in the governorates of Yemen. He said in the capital there is one midwife for every 900 women, pointing out that is reflected on raising the average of mother fatalities to 365 women out of every one-hundred thousand live birth.
Chairwoman of the National Society of the Yemeni Midwives Huda Jahlan said the midwives are the first key for offering reproductive health services and the health of the mother and the newly born as well as the health of the family. She said that since its establishment in 2004 the society managed to increase the number of midwives joining the society from 117 to 241 in December in 2007.

SANA’A, NewsYemen :

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a new report on situation in Sa’ada during the period from September 2007 to March 2008 that many parts of Sa’ada governorate in Northern Yemen have not yet recovered from four years of conflict between the Yemeni armed forces and the “Believing Youth” fighters.

“More than 60′000 persons are still affected and enduring the consequences of the conflict,” it said. “They are in critical need of humanitarian assistance.”

The ICRC said it maintains its presence in the governorate and it continues to operate in affected areas in cooperation with the Yemen Red Crescent Society (YRCS).

ICRC activities are currently operated by the Sub Delegation in Sa’ada governorate where 11 international and 30 national staff are based. They are working in close cooperation with the Yemen Red Crescent Society (YRCS),” it said.

The ICRC is progressively expanding its activities and boosting its response capacity in different fields in Sa’ada governorate to help meet the acute humanitarian needs of the affected population; the displaced, returnees and vulnerable residents who are giving shelter to the displaced, it said.

It said that from September 2007 to March 2008, the ICRC, in cooperation with YRCS branch in Sa’ada, assisted over 80′000 persons with emergency aids like clean drinking water and health care for people in affected population.

Mareb Press

Fighting in Saada displaced 50 thousand people, report
Topic: Local News

A local report reveals that more than 50 thousand people are homeless, epidemic and infectious disease are spread and many schools are closed as a result of the last war between Houthi rebels and the army in Saada province.

The Human Rights Report for 2007 issued by the Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights says more than 114 buildings including 4 mosques and health centers were transferred to military barracks.

“79 houses were completely destroyed and 74 houses partially destroyed. Also, 5 mosques and 8 schools were partially damaged,” the report added.

According to the report, many members of Zaidi sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, and al-Houthi supporters were arrested or disappeared.

The report says some 286 people have been lost since the conflict began in 2004 and about 2000 people were arrested in the last war.

The report adds that the detentions were taken place in Sa’ada, Sana’a, Amran, Hajja, Dhammar and Hudeidah. Some 370 people are put in prison for illegal justifications, the report adds.

Some detainees were exposed to psychological and physical torture and humiliating and inhuman treatment. A lot of detainees were put in small and poorly-ventilated prison cells, the report says.

The report points out that Hesham Hajr is one of the victims of violations because the detention bodies refused to transfer him to hospital.

A program of forced conversion:

(Read on …)

MINISTER OF INFORMATION DEFIES JUSTICE

In compliance with the policy of violating the laws and in defiance to the court rulings, the ministry of information has ordered to prohibit the printing of Alwasat newspaper. This unlawful and illegal action confirms the intentions of the Minister of Information to disrupt the implementation of the existing laws and create impediments against the freedoms of speech and freedom the press.

Alwasat is shocked by the disobedience of the minister of information to execute the court’s orders, which demonstrates his acrimony against liberties, and thus shows the incredibility of the government related to its constitutional and international commitments to respect the laws and defend the liberties and freedom of press. It is contemptuous that the government has given the false impression to the donors and international community, of abiding to the laws and respecting the rulings of the judiciary, while one of its ministers is violating all the laws and showing irreverence to the judiciary.

We call on all national and international bodies, defending the freedom of press, to condemn the despicable actions of the government and one of its members, calling the regime to have the audacity to announce that the country is besieged under an undeclared state of emergency , where the constitution and freedoms are put aside and only the personal desires and wishes of are ruling the country.

The minister of information, through his disdainful actions is showing the real face of the authoritarian rule of the country.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Al-Wasat independent weekly reported on Wednesday that the Ministry of Information has prevented all printers in the capital Sana’a from printing the paper challenging the rule of the court against the ministry.

“The Ministry of Information aggressive steps against al-Wasat are ongoing. It is a clear challenge against the verdict of the West Sana’a Court”.

Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) has denounced the new step of Information Minister Hassan al-Lawzi and considered it “obstinacy” against judiciary.

First deputy chairman of YJS Saeed Thabet has called al-Lawzi to respect justice as he represents the executive authority. “We want the ministry to be a good example of respecting the judiciary,” said Thabet.

Editor of al-Wasat Jamal Amer said “the minister is challenging justice”. “Information Minister’s measure has destroyed positive step taken by judge as if the ministry is consistent to defame the country”, said Amer.

Some leaders in the Ministry of Information told NY they are not satisfied with the minister’s measure against al-Wasat.

The West Sana’a Court issued last Saturday a verdict against the Minister of Information’s decision for revoking the al-Wasat license. The court also fined the Ministry of Information YR 50,000 in favor of al-Wasat as legal fees.

The Minister al-Lawzi accused the paper of “undermining the country’s highest interests through harming national unity and warm relations with brotherly countries”.

Two children imprisoned due to personal disagreement

May 7, 2008
Alsahwa.net – Tow children, Monif ,13-year-old, and Saddam , 15-year-old, were held in Sana’a .They were enforced to confess to the theft under torture due to personal disagreement between their father and a police station director .

The children’s father accused the director of dispatching soldiers to kidnap Monif, hold him for three days and torture him to confess to malicious charges.

He appealed the Information Minister and the Attorney-General to investigate the case and hold the police station officer accountable.

Yikes, the Yemen Times describes his beating and torture. The kid is 13.

He continued, “The police came, took me to their vehicle where they tied my mouth tightly and then took me to Al-Dhafan Police Station. As soon as we arrived, the station head and his escorts beat my back and the bottom of my feet with wires, seeking to force my confession that I was a thief. They accused me of stealing car batteries and electric meters from homes.”

He says that due to the unbearably severe torture, he told them he would confess so that they might let him down from the table where he was being tortured and not torture him any more, but when he told them that he was innocent, the torture resumed.

“It wasn’t enough for them to beat me with wires,” Muneef complained, “One of them slapped my face several times and another bit my arm.”

Muneef’s father told the Yemen Times that the station head had called to tell him that Muneef is wanted on an accusation of stealing the car battery of a resident in his neighborhood.

“The moment the station head called me, I took my son to South Sana’a Prosecution, which transferred him to Juvenile Prosecution, where he was released after being proven innocent,” his father said, maintaining that he wasn’t informed that police had taken Muneef the second time.